On the move

Driving into work this morning in the wind and rain, I kept seeing small, straggly flocks of Lapwings heading vaguely east.

It was only then that it occurred to me how few I've seen since the really cold weather started in mid-December, a reminder that, quite apart from all the bird movements into and out of the UK, there are also an awful lot within these islands.

We've been getting reports of larger than usual numbers of Redwings, Fieldfares, Sky Larks and various other species, including Lapwings, from the south-west, with the obvious conclusion being that the cold weather has pushed the birds further and further west in search of unfrozen ground. Now, it seems, they're coming back. It might not quite be spring yet, but it's not too far away.

In the March issue of Bird Watching, we'll be looking in more depth at just how the big freeze affected our British birds, including your pictures of some unusual garden visitors.

Matt Merritt, features editor